18 August 2022: Editorial - Time for NY's New Ethics Commission to Go After Cuomo's $5.2M Book Deal Profit

Our view: New NY ethics commission should pursue Cuomo book funds

The editorial board of Auburn, NY's Citizen read through the legal decision that terminated the now defunct Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) lawsuit seeking to force Andrew M. Cuomo to give up the $5.2 million in proceeds he personally pocketed from his pandemic "leadership" book deal. They find the judge who ruled in favor of Cuomo opened the door for New York's replacement ethics commission to go after the resigned-in-disgrace governor's profits.

Although former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his small legal/public relations team attempted to spin a judge's ruling this week as a complete vindication, the truth is it was actually just a final blow to legitimacy of the commission he long controlled.

More importantly, state Judge Denise A. Hartman made clear that there's still a path for New York state to go after the disgraced ex-governor's shamefully obtained book proceeds.

After Cuomo resigned in 2021 and was left with virtually no support within state government, the long-troubled Joint Commission on Public Ethics members made an attempt to save some of their dignity by ordering him to forfeit the $5 million he received for his book about COVID-19 leadership, authored in the middle of the pandemic. That same commission had previously cleared the governor to do the book project, which wasn't a surprise given the influence he wielded over it throughout his administration.

Cuomo sued to challenge the order, and in a decision that makes complete sense, he won because JCOPE failed to follow its due process procedures in arriving at the decision to go after his book money.

What the judge didn't rule on, however, is whether Cuomo's book project itself was legal. She went out her way to write that a newly created state government ethics commission that replaced JCOPE could take action.

“If, upon a review of JCOPE's actions, the new commission decides to pursue action against Cuomo, proceeds with the adjudicatory hearing, and determines that a violation has occurred, the new Commission may then impose a civil penalty against him,” Hartman wrote.

We hope that's exactly what they do.

This aspect of the judge's ruling has not gotten much attention in other media outlets. We'll see soon enough whether New York's new ethics commission was paying attention.